Saturday, September 6, 2008

Now where did I leave the baby...

My mom laughed the first time I mentioned that I had "pregnancy brain". She didn't believe me when I told her there were things that I had done or forgotten to do that I could blame on being pregnant. Back in December, when I was about 36 weeks pregnant, I paid the amount that should have gone to the Gap Card (which actually had a balance) to the GM Credit Card (which hadn't been used in 2 years) because the two were right next to each other on the Bill Pay list online. I only figured out that I hadn't paid my Gap Card charge when I tried to buy my unborn child MORE ADORABLE CLOTHES and the lady at the check out said the account was on hold. Who knew that Gap would put an account on hold for missing one payment?!? Then when Autumn was born I would do things and blame it on "baby brain". She laughed again until she read something in the newspaper (I think) that talked about a real thing called "Baby Brain"! Something to do with the overflowing of hormones, not to mention the complete lack of sleep, but she called to tell me she was sorry she didn't believe me before. It is a REAL THING! I always thought of myself as a person that had a reasonably good memory, not to mention an awareness of things going on around me. Not anymore.

Example #1:
A few weekends ago we did some yard work while Autumn was napping. It was the first time I was able to get out there in along time. I weeded and took the clippers and cut back some plants. When I was done I brought the tools back around to the garage and set the clippers down. Richard was still doing yard work, but I had to come in to take care of the now awake Autumn. On Monday I went out to do some errands. I put Autumn in the Tahoe on the passenger side, go around the back of the vehicle and get in the driver's side. First we were going to JCPenny's to pick up her 6 month photo reprints. We drove up a rather steep hill, and back down. Turned corners, got on feeder roads, went over speed bumps. When we got to JC's I got out of the Tahoe, went around the back of the vehicle to the passenger side to get Autumn out. Went in, and got the pictures. Came out, put Autumn in on the passenger side, went around the back of the vehicle and got in the driver's side. Off we went. Speed bumps, feeder roads, overpasses to CVS to pick up some diapers. I got out and got her out of the driver's side this time. The clerk asks her name and when I tell him he says, "Oh! My older sister's name is Autumn! And my younger sister's name is Winter. And my niece's name is Summer! It's kind of a thing now." I told him that we weren't going to take it that far. Go back out and by this time Autumn is getting a little grumpy, so when I put her in I decide that I will drive around a bit to try to relax her into a nap. We head back home and I see a street that I had been wanting to drive down for awhile so I turn down that, but it ends in a dead end. I turn around, come back out and find another street that I want to see. Then I decide to drive past some model homes. She's just now starting to quiet down, so I continue to drive through our neighborhood. She's finally quiet, so we drive home. I pull in the garage, get out of the Tahoe, come around the back end of the vehicle and that's when I see them. THE CLIPPERS! They had made the entire round trip with us! It was only then that I remembered that I had set them on the bumper of the Tahoe in case Richard still needed them after I went inside. I have no clue how I missed them every single time I went around the back of the Tahoe, and even less of a clue as to how they stayed on the bumper the entire time!

Example #2:
A few nights ago this week Richard was later than usual getting home. He usually calls if there is traffic or the buses are slow, but he hadn't called and it was getting close to 7:00. I called his cell but he didn't answer. During this "magic hour" Autumn usually starts getting really tired of me, and I start getting tired of her, so sometimes we have to go outside for a change of scenery and to wait for Daddy to get home. This night was no different, so I grabbed the phone in the front room and opened the garage door so I could get to the yard tools if I came across a weed I couldn't get out. I set the phone on the bumper of the Tahoe (anyone see where this is going?) and then set Autumn in the grass. I start pulling some weeds and then Daddy shows up. We stand up and get all excited because there is now someone new to entertain Autumn. I make the hand off to Richard as quickly as I can and we all go inside. A few days later we are back in the front yard waiting for Daddy and I notice a phone in the street. "How funny that there is a phone in the street," I think. "Someone must have thrown it out and it fell out of the garbage can before it could get to the garbage truck." Daddy comes home and we go inside. Last night we are waiting again, but the sun is just too bright because she just woke up from a nap, so we're waiting in the front room and peeking out the window. I notice that the phone is missing from the base and wonder where it could be. I sort of poke around the craft table it is sitting on, but then Daddy comes home. I ask him if he's seen the phone from the front room. He says he hasn't. I start thinking about the phone in the street, but there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that the phone could have gotten to the street. A few minutes later he brings up the phone in the street. I say that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that the phone could have gotten to the street. He asks if I ever take the phone outside. "No! I never take the phone outside. Well, one time I was talking to mom outside, but that was one of the good phones, not the old crappy phone." "Are you sure you didn't take it outside?" "Yes! I wouldn't do that." "I'm going to go look at the phone anyway." As he went out the front door I got a flash of me putting the phone on the bumper of the Tahoe just in case he called. Uh oh. How could that have happened? I NEVER do things like that! NEVER! He came back in with our phone. The phone that had been in the street for a few days and had been run over by a car. Most likely, MY car, when it slid off the back bumper of the Tahoe as I was backing out of the driveway.

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